Out of respect for our local and global community, the Global Gourmet Catering team is driven to minimize, if not eliminate, the impact of our events on our surroundings and the environment. Our work with Copia is so exciting because it enables us to give back to the local community after a big event with extra food.

Val Armstrong, our executive event sous chef, with Komal Ahmad, CEO and founder of Copia.

Val Armstrong, our executive event sous chef, with Komal Ahmad, CEO and founder of Copia.

Copia is a Bay Area startup that connects businesses with excess food to nonprofits feeding the hungry in our community. Our Director of Community Relations, Raquel Esparz, introduced our team to Copia and the organization has become a trusted partner. We started working together in February and have donated more than 10,000 pounds of food to local organizations since. By collecting and redistributing food from our events, Global Gourmet and Copia have provided more than 9,000 meals to those in need. We’re proud to see our food support the charitable efforts of Glide Memorial Church, Saint Vincent de Paul Society, Nuestra Casa and other such organizations.

Eliminating food waste is an environmental mission too. By keeping that 10,000 pounds of food out of landfills and using efficient distribution tactics, we’ve diverted more than 10,000 pounds of methane from the atmosphere.

We strive to ensure accurate food counts and at all of our events, but pride ourselves on initiatives like our Drought Watch program and the Copia partnership that enable Global Gourmet to promise our clients the most responsibly planned events in the San Francisco Bay Area, even for large-scale productions where excess food is unavoidable. We can create real change by working together, which is why we strongly encourage our partners across the food and event industries to adopt Copia and redistribute leftover food.

You can see a full report on our donations from Copia below, or download it here.

Food donation report from Copia

Donation summary report from Copia.